Aishwarya Rai

Born Nov. 1, 1973 in the Karnatka port city of Mangalore, India, Aishwarya Rai was the youngest of two children by Krishnaraj Rai, a marine biologist, and his wife, Brindya. A stellar student, she initially considered a career in medicine before settling on architecture. However, she had dabbled in modeling while in high school, and took it up again to pay for her college education at Raheja College. A commercial for Pepsi Cola, filmed during an outbreak of riots in Mumbai, instantly boosted her profile, and she was soon gracing magazines like Vogue and advertisements for Longines watches, Coca-Cola, and De Beers diamonds. In 1994, she took part in the Miss India competition, where sh... Continue Bio >>